Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, the City of Pittsburgh Departments of Permits, Licenses and Inspections (PLI) and City Planning announced the launch of buildingeye, a new public website mapping tool designed to make building permit, license and code enforcement actions within the City of Pittsburgh more accessible.

In July, City Council approved a bill enabling the city to enter into a software and support services contract with “buildingeye,” a firm that builds interactive city maps to track planning, permit, license and violation data.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto joined members of the administration and representatives from Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) Monday to present to City Council a preliminary plan to address stormwater and water quality issues throughout the city.

The city has worked in partnership with PWSA over the past year on the development of a green infrastructure plan to address wet weather sewage overflows, basement back ups and surface flooding.

An increase in public safety personnel, capital improvement projects, and a departmental reorganization are all part of Pittsburgh’s proposed 2017 operating and capital budget plans, as well as a five year financial plan.

Mayor Bill Peduto held the line on tax increases in his proposed $539.4 million spending plans that he submitted to the Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority (ICA) on Friday for approval.

The 2017 budgets and five year financial plan are projected to hire 50 new police officers to reach 900 full-time officers, the highest staffing level since 2002, according to the Mayor. One firefighter and two police recruit classes would be funded, and EMS would have funding to hire 20 EMTs.

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto joined Ceasefire PA, other gun control groups, and victims' families Thursday morning to call for an end to deaths by gun violence in the city and across the country through comprehensive legislation.

“These are preventable deaths,” said Mayor Peduto. “These are deaths that should never have happened in the first place and common sense laws that are supported by the vast majority of Americans [just] sit there and wait.”

According to an unofficial survey by Pittsburgh police officers, about 40 percent of its active union members have voiced that they have “no confidence” in Chief Cameron McLay.

291 members out of about 850 of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 1 union took part in a one-question survey on the FOP website that indicated that 277 do not have confidence in McLay’s ability to lead the department, while 14 said they do.

“I think he needs to re-evaluate the direction that he’s taking the department in based on previous complaints from the FOP and the rank and file [officers],” said FOP president Robert Swartzwelder.